Gurteen Knowledge

The kind of conversation I’m

interested in is one in which you start with a

willingness to emerge a slightly different

person.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

Theodore in an Oxford Historian

Gurteen Knowledge

The Knowledge CaféThe Knowledge Café

The birth of the The birth of the Gurteen Knowledge CafeGurteen Knowledge Cafe

London, September 2002

Gurteen Knowledge

Business is a ConversationBusiness is a Conversation

Business is a conversationBusiness is a conversation

Business is a conversation because the defining work of business is conversation -

literally.

And 'knowledge workers' are simply those people whose job consists of having

interesting conversations.

David WeinbergerThe Cluetrain Manifesto

• Conversation is central to all that we do

• Its our job!

Conversation is a meeting of mindsConversation is a meeting of minds

Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits.

When minds meet, they don't just exchange facts: they transform them, reshape them,

draw different implications from them, engage in new trains of thought.

Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

• Theodore in an Oxford Historian

• Conversation is creative

KM is about understandingKM is about understanding

For all our knowledge, we have no idea what we're talking about.

We don't understand what's going on in our business, our market, and our world.

KM shouldn’t be about helping us to know more. It should be about helping us to

understand.

So, how do we understand things? It's through stories that we understand how the world

works.

David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto

• Its about understanding & sense making

• Through conversation & storytelling

Gurteen Knowledge

Conversation is dialogueConversation is dialogue

The kind of conversation I’m interested in is one in which you start

with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

Theodore in an Oxford Historian

Gurteen Knowledge

Principles of DialoguePrinciples of Dialogue

• Suspend assumptions, do not judge• Observe & listen to one another• Welcome differences & explore them• Allow taboo subjects to be raised safely• Listen to your inner voice• Slow the discussion• Search for the underlying meaning

Dialogue is based on the work of the physicist

David Bohm

Gurteen Knowledge

Conversation is our Conversation is our most effective KM toolmost effective KM tool

Our most effective KM tool is conversation.

The words we choose, the questions we ask, and the metaphors we use to explain ourselves, are

what determine our success in creating new knowledge

as well as sharing that knowledge with each other.

Nancy DixonNancy Dixon

Common Knowledge Associates

Gurteen Knowledge

Conversation is a learning technologyConversation is a learning technology

Conversation is the most powerful learning technology ever invented.

Conversations carry news, create meaning, foster cooperation, and spark innovation.

Encouraging open, honest conversation through work space design, setting ground rules for

conversing productively,

and baking conversation into the corporate culture spread intellectual capital, improve cooperation,

and strengthen personal relationships.

Jay Cross, Informal Learning

• Jay Cross is a champion of Informal Learning

Gurteen Knowledge

SummarySummary

• Business is a conversation

• Conversation is creative

• Understanding is more important than knowing more

• Dialogue is the key to quality conversations

• Conversation is a powerful learning and KM tool

Gurteen Knowledge

The Knowledge CafeThe Knowledge Cafe

Gurteen Knowledge

What is a Knowledge Café?What is a Knowledge Café?

• A Knowledge Café brings a group of people together to have an open, creative conversation on a topic of mutual interest to surface their collective knowledge, to share ideas and to gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved.

• Ultimately leading to action in the form of better decision making and innovation and thus tangible outcomes.

Gurteen Knowledge

Different forms of Knowledge CaféDifferent forms of Knowledge Café

• Many forms of café adapted to different purposes• Gurteen Knowledge Café & World Café

– Learning, inspiring action

• Gurteen Innovation or Action Café– Surfacing issues– Refining issues and problems– Developing responses

• AARs, peer-assists, retrospects can be considered forms of Café

Gurteen Knowledge

The Gurteen Knowledge Café ProcessThe Gurteen Knowledge Café Process

• Set the context – normally a speaker• An open-ended trigger question• Small group conversations at tables• Whole group conversation in a circle• Share actionable insights

Gurteen Knowledge

Principles of the Gurteen Knowledge Principles of the Gurteen Knowledge CafeCafe

• Relaxed, non-threatening, open conversation• As close to a pub or dinner conversation as possible• No manipulation of people; no hidden agendas• Everyone is equal; no table leaders; no reporting back• No one is forced to do anything – OK to just listen• Trust people to talk about what is important to them• OK to go off-topic – that’s what good conversations do• No group summarization or attempt to reach consensus• No capture of outcomes; no flip charts in the room• Principal outcome: what people take away in their heads

Gurteen Knowledge

The Gurteen Knowledge Café is fundamentally different to other forms of knowledge café or the World café.

• No table hosts or leaders• No reporting back• No capture of outcomes• No group summarisation• Less formal & less controlled

Gurteen Knowledge

What are the outcomes?What are the outcomes?

• Real outcomes are what you take away in your head– A deeper understanding of the issues discussed– A deeper insight into other people’s perspectives– A better appreciation of your own point of view– Engagement with the subject– Better relationships– Better position to make more informed decisions

and to take action!• Intangible outcomes but valuable nevertheless

Gurteen Knowledge

Where might you use the Café?Where might you use the Café?

• Surface hidden problems & opportunities• Encourage knowledge sharing & informal

learning• Spark action• Address disengagement and lack of voice• Help people to make sense of things• Help people to feel ownership of things• Improve decision making and innovation

Coffee breakCoffee break

Gurteen Knowledge

The Knowledge CafeThe Knowledge Cafe

Today’s Knowledge Café is different Today’s Knowledge Café is different to my normal formatto my normal format

Gurteen Knowledge

The ProcessThe Process

• We have 8 speakers each representing a MAKE Award winner

• Each will speak for 2 - 3 minutes and briefly describe their talk

• They will then join the tables where you can have conversations with them

The SpeakersThe Speakers

Gurteen Knowledge

The kind of conversation I’m

interested in is one in which you start with a

willingness to emerge a slightly different

person.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

Theodore in an Oxford Historian

Gurteen Knowledge

The ConversationThe Conversation

• 8 speakers, 8 tables, 6-7 people per table

• One speaker will join each table– And have a conversation for 40 mins

• Speakers + 3 people move tables– You have a second conversation for 40 mins

• Final sharing of insights as a whole group

Gurteen Knowledge

The kind of conversation I’m

interested in is one in which you start with a

willingness to emerge a slightly different

person.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

Theodore in an Oxford Historian

Share InsightsShare Insights

Gurteen Knowledge

David GURTEEN Gurteen Knowledge Fleet, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 7774 178 650 Email: david.gurteen@gurteen.com

www.gurteen.comwww.gurteen.com

Gurteen Knowledge

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